Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Good fact to know:

If your ears are pounding and/or feeling kind of muffled and under pressure because of loud noise, that's good. It means that your ears have gotten used to the louder sound and are not being damaged. That's how they protect themselves. However, if your ears are actually ringing, that's a sign of some sort of permanent hearing loss . . . not good.

If you need to play really loud, what you have to do is gradually get louder: i.e., start with regular music level, and over the course of maybe a half hour, gradually increase in volume. Your ears will accustom themselves to the decibel increase. However, there's a point where your ears just can't protect themselves any longer. Don't go past that point. Either that or wear earplugs, which are always a good idea. Or just don't play so loud.

Sudden loud noises (gunshot) and long term exposure to loud volumes are what cause hearing loss. If your ears are Pounding and/or feeling muffled, you are still causing damage to your ears... just not as quickly as volumes that cause ringing.

Someone told me that when you hear a constant pitch (slight ringing) that then suddenly stops (can be in a silent room) than that is a frequency that you just lost forever. Not sure if it is true or not.

Pounding and/or muffled feeling is not PERMANENT hearing loss. It's temporary damage that your ears will recover from. Ringing signifies permanent damage. This is what my doctor told me during the ear examination bit of a routine checkup, when I was talking about having been at a Rush concert. She said to always bring earplugs.

Cotton balls work for me- they deaded the thump and keep the shock loads down a bit.

what?

Rush concerts are loud ... but the 3 guys in Rush use the in ear monitors so their hearing is protected ... the in ear monitors are essentially an ear plug to protect hearing and they are also a mini speaker system that delivers sound to the ear ... you can blow your audience away with volume and not blow away your own hearing ...

(cupping hand to ear).."What"?

huh?

I'll agree with Jeff, Rush has been loud on a consistant basis..In the many times I've been to see them, I have sat all around them--and the loudest they've ever been IMO was from an all-the-way-back/slightly elevated position on the last tour. This was in an outdoor pavillion...

In fact, I really believe it to be far too loud in an overkill sense. From a sonic standpoint the system would perform better if they took the dB level down a peg or two...

but the guys in Rush are protected with in ear monitors ... those of you playing out in loud bands should consider this option ... it will improve the tightness of the band ... it will save your hearing ... drummers love it ... it will decrease stage volume ... and you won't need bulky stage monitors anymore ...

I totally agree with Jeff. My band went to in ear monitoring quite a few years ago (started with can headphones and then later to in ear type). There is no better way to get a full and total mix right in your head. It does create some challenges at shows if the house PA and soundman can't send you a proper feed. To avoid that, we take our own board and send a submix feed to the house.

In ear monitoring is great. I like it too.

They (Rush) have always been a band that has used the best equipment that was available for the times, in fact one of the main reasons they left National Sound down here in Va. in the early 80s was that the company wouldn't invest in the mixing desk that Rush wanted to use on the road, I heard at the time it was around $120K.

They were still loud even when they used foldback monitors, but what I'm saying is the FOH sound would be clearer if it wasn't pushed so much. IMO it takes away from the music to a degree.

In their current setup, it's not loud on stage at all. There is no bass amp, the guitar signal is mainly DI to the FOH...only Neil is loud. That's okay, he's Neil.

Sitting (or rather, standing) in the 14th row, yeah, it was loud, but the mix didn't sound muddy to me. I'd never been to other Rush concerts, so I have nothing to compare to except for a couple of other concerts, all of which were not as clear-sounding as Rush were. Actually, no, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones were clearer, but not as loud.

I love and miss the Flecktones. Absolutly the most original and listenable sound in a long while.